Localization of Gastrin Activity in the Gastric Antrum1

Gastrin activity was determined in sections, cut parallel to the surface, of the antral mucosa and submucosa of cats and dogs and in the aboral corpus mucosa of dogs and man. The maximal gastrin activity in the antrum was found in the basal 2/3 of the gland crypt region of the mucosa. The superficial 1/3 of the antral mucosa of the cat contained no gastrin activity, whereas in the dog traces of activity were found in this part of the mucosa. Extracts from the submucosa of the cat antrum contained no gastrin activity, but in the submucosa of 1 dog out of 3 low activity was found. The results suggest that the gastrin cells are localized predominantly in the region of the middle and basal parts of the gland crypts of the antral mucosa in the dog and cat. In the corpus mucosa immediately oral to the visualized antrum-corpus boundary, no gastrin activity was found in 3 dogs and activity was present in only 4 of 14 doudenal ulcer patients. Thus the gastrin cells do not seem to be present in the corpus mucosa of dog or man, but the occasional finding of gastrin activity in the most aboral part of the acid secreting gastric mucosa of man speaks in favour of a dentate, or sometimes notchy, antrum-corpus boundary.